by Rien Reigns
“Took you long enough, you rock headed idiot,” she said giving me a slightly painful, playful punch.
She pulled me to my feet. We kissed and hugged.
“Now are you done wasting time?” she asked.
“I’m all ears. What were you trying to tell me about a war?”
“E3 aren’t terrorists. At least not everyone, that is. Its purpose is to be a humanitarian organization. Our mission is to allow open access to technology to anyone who needs it.”
“Now, I’m not trying to argue,” I said, holding up my hand. “But if you give free access to baptisms, this world is going to go to hell faster than a hummingbird beats its wings. There has to be checks and balances.”
“Are we going to go down this road again? We don’t have time. My point is, there’s a crack in the organization. Certain members have become radical in their ideas to bring it about. They want to start a war with ChronoGen. All the bombings and attacks are the result of a small branch of E3, using the name of my organization to enact their own vision. I don’t condoned what they’re doing. Especially since they’re doing it in the name of E3.”
“And that’s exactly what I’m saying. People are people. Giving them all that they could ever want is just going to make them want something more. Humans won’t ever be fully satisfied. It’s a pipe dream, Sam, can’t you see that? No matter what you do, there always has to be someone in charge, someone keeping everyone else in line. It’s not only human, it’s life. Period.”
“Not if we can make people more than human. Not if we can make them gods in their own right. Our myte and baptism technology comes from the Celestials, but they’re keeping control of it. Kremalakin was one of them. They’re responsible for all the bloodshed. They’re holding us back, keeping us beneath them. That’s what I’m trying to do, what E3 is really about. I’m trying to make it so we can be at their level.”
“They aren’t gods, and you can’t make people into gods. Even if you could, how would that make anything better? All you’d be doing is making the struggles of life more epic in scale. Look at the Celestials, they’re a perfect example. They’re more advanced than us, and yet if what you’re saying is true, they’re not any more enlightened than the average human. Look at any polytheistic religion, the gods were simply fucked up humans with superpowers. They still bickered, fought, and tried to kill each other, all the while wreaking havoc on the little guys.”
“For one thing, those are simply man made myths and notions of what gods could be. I’m talking about absolute equality. If everyone had the same capabilities and limitations, they wouldn’t be able to do any of those things. Fighting would be pointless if everyone were truly equal. Think of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. If you couldn’t hurt someone in any way, and they couldn’t hurt you, how could there be a conflict. And besides, each of our godselves could have their own universe. That’s what I’m talking about, Travis. I’m talking about utilizing the technology the Celestials gave us, and taking it even further, making us better than them. We can do it if we’re given enough time and not being held back.”
I shook my head. “It’s still crazy to think of turning people into gods.”
“Is it? A hundred years ago people thought telepathy or thought transference was supernatural or a hoax, and now look, we talk to each other every day without moving our lips, and you and I are now able to share our thoughts and our feelings. I’m on the front lines of this. We can put the same programs within a machine and make it do what we want with our thoughts. Telekinesis.”
“Okay, okay, great, but those things don’t make a person a god.”
“What does? Immortality? The Celestials say they’re thousands of years old. We’re working and getting close to that. Strength? We can make a person stronger than any other animal on the planet. You have no idea what’s going on in ChronoGen labs around the world. I’ve seen things that would make your head spin. I’ve seen a man fight not only a bear, but a lion and tiger as well. At the same time. He killed the bear with a single punch, then snapped the lion’s neck. To end the spectacle he ripped the tiger’s front legs off. That was just the first round of testing. Next he wrestled five gorillas and beat them all to a bloody pulp. For the final feat he tackled and brought down an elephant weighing just over five thousand kilograms.”
I shook my head and laughed. “I’ve seen such videos, they’re either a hoax, or the guys were actually augmented with artificial limbs. Like the Horsemen.”
“I’m serious. Yes, there are fake videos circulating, but what I saw was real, and the man wasn’t mechanically augmented, he was genetically engineered, as in, biologically enhanced, all in the name of science and self-made evolution. The Celestials and Richards are trying to push the boundaries of what we’re capable of. I think they’re planning to turn us into slaves.”
“That doesn’t make any sense though. From what you told me, they’re digital beings. Why would they need us? They’re beyond physical bodies. Besides, ChronoGen wouldn’t be stupid enough to meddle with that shit. All it’d take is a single Republic or Empire finding out about that, and the company would be seized, torn to shreds, and divvied up for ethical violations.”
“Wow!” she said. “You’re even more ignorant than I imagined. ChronoGen controls all the Republics, and the Celestials control ChronoGen. We’re already slaves to them. They practically own the whole fucking world. Look at every leader. Not a single one doesn’t own at least some stock in the company. They’re all puppets. Don’t you see that? Look at you.”
“What about me?”
“Um, there’s the little fact that Inquisitors are above the law in every country that ChronoGen does business with. It’s part of the contract they make leaders sign upon receiving their silver stock portfolios.”
“I’ve heard this lecture before. Just a few hours ago in fact. Speaking of which, tell that to Ranger Stevenson and President Collins. Since it seems you’ve forgotten, I tried to leave this cursed resort the moment I found Beit dead. I was fucking blackmailed into staying. Turns out my shit ass deputy decided to try and take some souvenirs home with him, and because, well, I brought him into the Republic, I’m fucking responsible for his shit. So, it was either stay and try to solve the case, or lose my job and spend the next few years in prison. More and more, I’m thinking I made a mistake.”
Sam was starting to look like she’d made a mistake as well. “And I’m starting to think you’ll never change. If it had been any other Inquisitor, you would have been let go. They kept you here so that the Horsemen could apprehend you themselves.”
“Fuck!”
I sighed.
“I’m sorry, Sam. I’m doing it again, aren’t I? Can a man truly change? They say a tiger can’t change its stripes. Guess I can’t either, but I’ll be damned if I’m not going to keep trying”
She kissed me. “You know what? I’m the one that’s made the mistake. I shouldn’t be expecting you to change. I either love you as you are, or I don’t. And I do love you. I don’t like everything about you, but I do love you, Travis Enki Ryker Yan.”
I kissed her. “How about this, my dear sweet, Sam? No more passing blame, not on each other, not on ourselves. We are who we are, and we find a way to accept that. From now on we simply do what we can to make the other one happy, and no more building up expectations.”
“Do you think it’ll work?”
“All we can do is try. Kali, set a Priority One, above any other already in place, don’t let me forget how much I love this woman, hear me?”
“You sentimental sap,” Sam said. “You forgot, Kali isn’t inside your head at the moment.”
I had, and I hadn’t even noticed that she hadn’t responded.
“You’re one to talk,” I said.
She hugged me, and I hugged her back. We stood there holding each other for what seemed like eternity. I didn’t want to let go, but eventually we did.
“Now what do ya say,” I said. “How about we solv
e this case once and for all?”
“What are you doing about Kali and Death?”
“Kali says Death is her prisoner.”
“And you think she can actually control him? I wouldn’t want a Celestial in my head.”
“I wouldn’t either, except he gave me some ideas about using your thugs to make sure that neither him, nor any other Celestial can do anything to me. Care to help me make some new thugs?”
“Let’s see what you have in mind.”
“Sam and Travis,” I said. “Together again. Watch out world, the unstoppable duo is back in action.”
“I forgot how much of a goofball you can be,” Sam said, shaking her head and rolling her eyes.
“So did I. Maybe you’re some kind of drug and I’m on a contact high.”
I kissed her, again, and again, and again, until she laughed and pushed me away.
“You’d think we were teenagers,” she said.
“Maybe the next time we bathe, we should opt to physically look the part. I hear it boosts your sex drive.”
“Like you need any boost, you perverted old man.”
“But I’m your perverted old man.”
“And don’t you forget it.”
She slapped me on the ass, so I grabbed hers in return.
“No more of that now, we have work to do,” she said.
Laughing, we went back to her workstation and programmed the new thugs. Then we both injected each other. I went to reunite with Kali and Death.
I took Kali’s yantra off the reader, turned it over in my hand, examining it. Sam had told me that all I needed to do was place it on my tongue so Kali could disperse herself throughout my body again.
I found I was still hesitant. I questioned whether the thugs Sam and I had programmed were good enough to protect me.
There was really only one way to find out.
I put the yantra in my mouth and felt it dissipate on my tongue.
Only time would tell.
29: Death is Dead
“Kali, you there?”
‹I’m here, Travis.›
“Everything okay? The thugs playing nice?”
‹So far, so good. I will keep you apprised of any issues.›
“Hey, Kali.”
‹Yes, Travis?›
“It’s good to have you back.”
‹It is good to be back.›
Sam came back into the room then. She didn’t look happy.
“Lillian left a message saying she went ahead and interrogated Inquisitor Noble. She says he confessed to killing Julius as revenge for the Inquisitors who were killed. Do you know what they’re talking about?”
“Four Inquisitors assigned to Beit’s case were killed on their way here. I was nearly killed myself. Someone planted a bomb on my pip.”
“How come I’m just now hearing about this?”
I shook my head and shrugged. “Ranger Stevenson seemed to know about it. What’s the deal with him, anyway?”
“It’s complicated,” she said.
“Most things are. Care to summarize though?”
“I slept with him,” she said. “Not recently. Nothing’s happened in years, not to say he hasn’t tried. It was after you and I divorced, shortly after this place got built. Back then we worked together a lot, going over security stuff. When the job was complete, I moved on to my next project. I told you I’m only here for a couple weeks out of the year. He wanted me to stay here full-time as head of security. He wanted something long-term, but I’d just been looking for some comfort.”
That explained a lot.
“So he knows I’m your ex?”
She nodded.
“Now I understand why he was such a dick,” I said.
“I doubt it was just because he knew you were my ex-husband. He doesn’t like Inquisitors to begin with, and, he really is an asshole. Not always. He does have a sweet side, but most the time he’s an ass.”
A part of me hated knowing that the two of them had been together, more than once, but I didn’t have a millimeter of righteousness in me to judge her for it. I actually felt like an ass, remembering what I’d said to her earlier about her spying on me.
I moved in and kissed her, as if to show her that I didn’t mind, that I loved her.
“So where’s Lillian and Noble now?” I asked.
“She said that her and Kody were taking him to the Ranger’s jail on the premises, and then they were going to find the Horsemen and clear everything up.”
“Well then, it sounds like the case is closed. Maybe you and I should go back to your place, or we could go to mine?”
Just then I remembered Death had said he believed the Horsemen were dead, but never explained it.
Kali piped in at that same moment.
‹Death believes that something has happened to his physical self, because he would have informed the other Horsemen of your innocence after he released you. The fact that the Horsemen tried to take you into custody in the stairwell, indicates that Death never made the communication with them. I wouldn’t allow him to communicate then, because I didn’t fully trust him, which is why I instructed you to run.
‹Later, when we’d been brought down here to the bunker, I opened a secure line for Death to contact the other Horsemen. They didn’t respond. We just tried again, and there is still no connection. Death thinks that something has happened to them.
‹Inquisitor Noble may have killed Mr. Beit, but someone tried to kill you, and succeeded in killing the four other Inquisitors. Also, someone tried to kill you with the robots in the basement. Death and I don’t think it was either Noble or Dewhurst. Noble was trying to apprehend you, and Dewhurst didn’t have the knowledge to take control of the robots. We believe that Mr. Beit was being used by E3 as bait for Inquisitors and the Horsemen to come to the Regency in order to be eliminated.›
I relayed what Kali had said to Sam.
“I’m going to contact Lillian and see what’s been going on,” Sam said.
A minute passed.
“Damn. Lillian isn’t answering, and neither is Kody.”
“Wait a second,” I said. “When I came across Noble and Dewhurst in Cook’s suite, I tried to contact the Horsemen, but couldn’t. They said a barrier had been cast over the hotel. Could that be why you can’t contact anyone, and why the Horsemen can’t be reached?”
“I didn’t know a barrier had been put up.”
“It seems there’s a lot you don’t know about. Who has the ability to put one up?”
“Either Lillian, or Brandin could have done it.”
“You have a way of contacting them with the barrier in place, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” she said, and went to a landline on the wall which I hadn’t noticed before.
I watched her push a few buttons and wait. I could barely make out a ringtone. I couldn’t recall the last time I’d used an actual phone.
“Hey, Brandin, it’s Sam. Is there a barrier in place?” she asked.
I watched her listen.
“How come no one told me, and why is it still up?”
-
“Well take it down.”
-
“Since when?”
-
“Why the hell didn’t anyone contact me?”
Whatever it was, she was pissed.
“I don’t care what Lillian said, I’m in charge, and if you want to make sabbatical, you better remember that. I want to be informed immediately and directly by you if something like this ever happens again. Do I make myself clear?”
-
“Good. Now remove the barrier.”
Sam slammed the phone onto the receiver. It didn’t catch. It fell and dangled by the cord. Sam picked it up and with some restraint made sure it stayed.
I remained silent.
“The security feeds are down again,” she said.
“How is that possible? Dewhurst is dead, and Noble should be in a jail cell.”
“That’s what I int
end to find out.”
From the look on her face she was attempting to contact Lillian again, and this time she was successful.
‹“Kali, the barrier is down, try to contact the Horsemen,”› I said.
‹I am already attempting to do so, but there is still no answer.›
‹“Well keep trying. I don’t like the way Sam is looking.”›
A minute later Sam said, “Damn it! I’m enveloped in incompetence.” Then she looked at me. “Come on.”
She went to a big metal cabinet and opened it. Inside was a small arsenal.
“Do you need any weapons?” she asked.
I looked at all the pretty toys she had while running through the inventory of my vault in my head.
“I’m good, but I’ll take a few rounds of ammo,” I said. “What’s going on?”
“Noble escaped. Lillian says some other Inquisitors showed up and ambushed her and Kody while they were escorting him to the jail. Now there’s a gunfight occurring on the roof of the Shareholder’s building and they could use our backup.”
‹“Kali?”›
‹I still can’t reach any of the Horsemen. Death says no other Inquisitors were assigned, and that whoever is assisting Noble, must not be an Inquisitor. He also has no clue who would come to his rescue. Noble’s only friend was Dewhurst.›
‹“Did Dewhurst have anyone else? Could Noble have recruited them to avenge Dewhurst?”›
‹Death says Dewhurst had a brother, but that he is in Australia and wouldn’t have been able to get here in time, and that there is no one else close enough to do so.›
‹“Is it possible for me to communicate with Death directly? That way in the future we don’t waste time relaying.”›
‹I could arrange that,› she said.
‹“Good. Then do it. I just had a thought, can we thread Sam in as well, like I was with the waitstaff at dinner?”›
‹Yes, would you like me to do so?›
‹“If it’s all right with her.”›
It was.
Kali, Death, Sam, and I linked up.
We got in the elevator. I’d forgotten about it going sideways first. The unexpected motion made me woozy. It was only for a second, but it was long enough for Sam to take notice.